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Boulder Dash Rocks
Many years ago before personal computers
video cards contained 16
million colours, I was hooked on a simple arcade game called "Boulder
Dash" or if you were lucky enough to own a Commodore-64, you had 16
colours as opposed to 4 on the PC. The game was a classic and featured
the loveable character called Rockford who attempt to collect a variety of gems as he avoided the enemies in the
wondrous yet often plain gaming environments. Fans can now finally rejoice as Rockford is back in the
latest incarnation of Boulder Dash called Boulder Dash Rocks!
With that said, the Nintendo DS is perfect
console
for the Boulder Dash franchise and once again reunites gamers as
Rockford as they attempt to solve a variety of puzzles by collecting all
the gems in the gaming environment. The concept is simple and is similar
to
games as Dig-Dug and Jewel Hunter, grab the items, dodge or trick the
enemy and moved onto the next level.
The idea of Boulder Dash is to move
from the starting point to the exit without getting killed and
collecting all the gems. Although it may sound easy in its essence,
there are a number of obstacles in the way and one wrong move can see
the gamer starting the level again.
Although Rockford had no weapons in
past games, this new incarnation still allows Rockford to push boulders,
provided a path has been cleared but there are also several weapons in
the gaming environment to assist the player. Although the puzzles can become
frustratingly difficult, the game is extremely addictive that will have
you coming back for more and more as you attempt to beat the massive
maze puzzle environment.
The game also has boss
levels which does make things interesting and challenging at the same
time. Needless to say, the developers have done a great job at
recreating the original spirit of the game on this modern console. The
control system also works quite well on the Nintendo DS touch screen with the
stylus used to control Rockford in the gaming environment.
The graphics of Boulder Dash Rocks has a Saturday morning cartoon feel
to it with its simplistic graphics and colourful gaming environments,
add in a variety of special effects and the series has received a 21st
century face lift. Throw in some quirky sound effects and a groovy
soundtrack and you have a rather catchy and cute looking DS game.
In conclusion, Boulder Dash Rocks contains
a great number of extras such as a time trial race, head-to-head
challenge for tow players and you have a very well rounded game that
will give you hours upon hours of enjoyment, frustration and a healthy
amount of cursing. Sadly, the title does not support Wi-Fi but hopefully
future versions will implement this. Rockford is back and it looks like
he's here to stay! |
